


Please Don't Say You Love Me

by mecabitchell



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-04-22 06:02:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14302383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mecabitchell/pseuds/mecabitchell
Summary: Beca ends her toxic relationship with Jesse, and finds comfort in her new-found friend, Chloe Beale. The two end up together, and Chloe begins to fall in love with her. However, upon overhearing this confession, Beca writes a song just for Chloe.Inspired by Please Don't Say You Love Me by Gabrielle Aplin





	Please Don't Say You Love Me

“Welcome, everybody, to Barden Academy! The next four years here will push you to your limits in order to properly prepare you for college. You all are here because you are capable of the requirements in our program. Whether or not you apply those qualifications will be up to you. Now, if you all look on your name badges, you will see a dot with a color on it. Find the designated senior with your color and they will be leading your group for today. Go Wolves!” The principal had too much energy for Beca’s liking, but she appreciated her dedication and organization. Beca recognizes that same passion in her music. She’s dreamt of becoming a music producer, and the music program at Barden is exemplary. In order to get her dad to support her dreams, she agreed to attend Barden Academy before he helps her move out to fully pursue her dreams.

This was a very small school, the incoming freshman class being less than fifty students. Highly selective and expensive, but Beca got in on a musical scholarship. All she had to do was work with the choir teacher to make setlists for all the performances throughout her four years here. It wasn’t the biggest sacrifice, but it definitely wouldn’t be her top choice in extracurriculars. 

“Hello. I’m Benji. I will be your lead senior for the day. I will take a quick attendance then we can be on our way! Cynthia Rose Adams? Chloe Beale? Stacie Conrad? Rebeca Mitchell?”

“Beca. It’s just Beca.” Everybody else had raised their hand when their name was called, but Beca interrupted the awkward senior. He made a quick note then shot a smile at her, continuing with attendance.

“Aubrey Posen? And Jesse Swanson? Good! Everybody is here. Now, before we begin, I have to double-check. You’re all here for the musical arts program, correct?” Everybody nodded their heads, except for the only boy in the group who shouted an excited “yes!” 

Beca scoffed and rolled her eyes at the enthusiasm. She hoped she wouldn’t have to deal with the preppiness of that boy all year long. However, just as her luck would have it, he started talking to her. “So, you’re Beca, right?” 

Beca all but glared at him, then followed the group outside the auditorium and into the halls of Barden Academy. The school was extremely big, larger than any average high school, but that’s particularly due to the high price of the school.

Jesse continued to try to talk to Beca during the tour, but she just managed to dodge him. Slipping in between Cynthia Rose and Stacie, she wedged herself there for the rest of the tour so as to avoid talking to Jesse.

However, as lunch rolled around, Beca knew her social ineptitude would fail her yet again. The girls all managed to sit at one table together, but Beca was nervous to join them. She hadn’t made any efforts to talk or befriend any of them, and felt awkward just sitting down between them all. But, as she watched Jesse approach her quickly, she slipped into a chair right next to Aubrey and Cynthia Rose. 

Stacie laughed as she watched Beca nearly drop out of her seat. She had sat down so quickly, she misjudged how far the chair would scoot and she slammed her stomach into the table. “Whoa, there, Lightning. Hiding from Jesse again?” 

“Um, yeah.” Jesse furrowed his eyebrows when he saw that there was no seat available next to Beca. But, instead of sitting at the empty seat next to Stacie, he pulled a chair from another table and wedged it between Aubrey and Beca.

“Hey, guys!” Jesse beamed as he scooted closer to Beca. Her eyes went wide and she threw her hands up to cover her face, embarrassed that she had barely been here for more than three hours and already had a stalker.

All during lunch, Jesse kept snaking his arm around Beca’s shoulders, but each time, she would shrug his arm off and all the girls would laugh. Jesse, however, seemed to miss the laughter that occurred each time Beca shot him down and didn’t even notice all the signs of rejection.

“What are you doing after school? We can go see a movie or something?” Jesse smiled and leaned back in his chair, throwing his arm over Beca’s shoulders once more.

Before Beca could reject him, however, Stacie jumped in and replied for her. “Oh, Beca was telling us earlier that she was looking for someone to hang out with after school. All of us were busy, but thank god you can keep her company!”

Beca glared at Stacie and started to protest, saying she had a family emergency at four today, but Stacie interjected, once again. “How do you schedule family emergencies?” 

“You’re funny, Becs. We can walk to my house after this. It’s pretty close.” He then got up and went to throw his trash away and, presumably, fix his perfect boyband hair. 

“Stacie. I’m going to kill you.” Beca stared at Stacie, completely unamused. The whole table erupted into laughter, even Aubrey, who seemed to always have a stick up her ass. 

“Oh, Becs. Maybe he’s your soulmate. You’ll be thanking me later! Tell me the details on Monday.” Stacie winked and got up from the table. Everybody else followed and got ready to finish the tour. 

-x-

“So, do you still hate movies?” Jesse smiled and closed his laptop, spotting a sleeping Beca. He chuckled to himself and shifted her to be more comfortable in his bed. He draped the blanket over her body and left a cup of water on the bedside table before moving to sleep on the couch downstairs.

The next morning, or afternoon, really, Beca woke up and found that she wasn’t in her own bed. Instead of her dark gray walls that were plastered with music sheets and sticky notes of different songs, she found many movie posters and a tall dresser that was full of different movies. She tried desperately to wake herself up enough to remember where she was, and when her eyes adjusted to the white walls and open curtains, she remembered she fell asleep watching some movie about cowboys and aliens with Jesse. 

Groaning, she slipped out of bed and was more than ecstatic to find that all her clothes were still on, except for her shoes. She reached down to clumsily pull them on and tried to find her way downstairs. On the way, however, she spotted herself in the hallway mirror and reflexively cringed at her eyes.

Her eyeliner was smeared all over her face and half her foundation was on the black sleeve of her jacket. She used her fingers to wipe away as much eyeliner as she could, then continued to look for the stairs.

The house was fairly large, but not too large that it was uncomfortable. Judging by all the framed pictures and warm smells around, this house was more of a home. She smiled slightly at the thought of a family living here, even if it is a family of movie fanatics. 

“Jesse?” Beca reached the bottom of the stairs and found the boy passed out on the couch. She had to admit, with as much persistence that was shown all yesterday, she expected him to have slept next to her. This guy was a good guy.

“Beca, you’re awake!” He fluttered his eyes open and sat up on the couch, finally getting a good look at Beca. “Jesus, and you look like Samara.” He laughed at his joke, which Beca failed to recognize the movie reference to, before he got up and went to the bathroom. He quickly emerged with one of his sister’s emergency makeup remover wipes and handed it to Beca.

“What the hell is a Samara?” Beca furrowed her eyebrows and scrunched her nose as she scrubbed the makeup off her face. 

“Do you never watch movies? Next time, we’re going to watch The Ring.” Jesse smiled and went over to the kitchen.

Beca followed and sat at the table, balling up the used makeup wipe. “Who says there’s a next time?” 

“We’re going to watch movies every weekend until you learn to love them.” Jesse brought out a couple eggs and a pan, beginning to make breakfast for the pair as he tried to convince Beca that movies were the path to discovering utopian societies where somehow everything magically falls into place, making endings the best part.

-x-

“Rebeca Mitchell, where have you been all night? Did you walk home?” Francis Mitchell was standing in the living room, pacing around frantically while he pulled on the thin strands of his hair.

Beca rolled her eyes at the use of her full name. “Relax, Dad. I made some friends yesterday and we watched a movie and I fell asleep. My phone died and I only walked like, three blocks.”

Francis rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands and sighed deeply. “Just text me next time. But I’m glad you have friends already. We don’t need a repeat of your, quote on quote, ‘emo phase’.”

“Oh my god, it was one month of seventh grade. Let it go!” Beca groaned and cringed internally at the excessive amounts of eyeliner, more than now, fake colorful hair extensions, and obnoxiously loud screamo music that she somehow infatuated herself with.

Francis only laughed and shook his head, pointing up the stairs for Beca to go take a shower. She rolled her eyes again before trekking away, desperate to clean herself from the smell of popcorn.

-x-

School had actually been fun for the past few weeks. Beca would attend the mandatory core classes in the morning, then take all her elective classes in the afternoon. She signed up for choir, music technology, and band. Learning how to play the drums in elementary school served well to overtake the last elective she needed, although she was far from proficient. So, she screwed around on the drums for fifty minutes a day, barely learning how to play the songs that were required of her.

Every weekend, as promised, she spent with Jesse as he educated her in the art of movies. He would play for her many different movies, commentating on each one. She definitely still hated movies, hating the cliches and predictable endings, but she did enjoy spending time with Jesse. Eventually, he convinced her to go on a date with him to a real movie theatre where they both could watch a movie for the first time.

“Beca Mitchell, certified badass, crying at a movie? Do you need to go to the doctor? Do you finally have a heart?” Jesse laughed as he watched Beca wipe away some stray tears.

“Fuck off, it was a good movie. God, I hate you so much.” Beca laughed and shoved Jesse’s shoulder, almost missing since the theatre was still relatively dark as the credits rolled on. 

“Admit it, you like movies now!” 

“Absolutely not. ‘Wonder’ was just different. You can’t hate a movie like that.” Beca sniffled and rubbed her nose, not wanting to leave the theatre until she was sure the rest of her tears had dried.

“Even still, I’m glad you watched it with me. I’ve really loved hanging out with you, Beca.” Jesse leaned in, and when Beca failed to flinch as she normally would, he closed the distance between their lips and the two shared their first kiss.

At first, Beca didn’t respond, but she talked herself into kissing him back. He was a good guy. He took care of her and, although he spent too much time forcing Beca to watch movies, she was quite fond of him.

And so, from that kiss all the way until sophomore year homecoming, the two remained a couple. However, for the past seven months and nine days, Jesse had been telling Beca that he loves her. And each time he said it, he would try to push Beca into saying in back to him.

But to no avail. Beca was still very guarded, not wanting to let her feelings dictate her happiness, but even now, she couldn’t deny the love she had for Jesse.

So, as the two stumbled home from the dance, a little tipsy from the spiked punch, Beca pulled Jesse into his room and they laid on the bed together. Rather than committing themselves to another night of sex, Beca pulled a DVD from her purse. “So, we’ve been together for a while and every time we watch a movie, you pick it. So tonight, I figured we could watch a movie that I picked.”

“The Breakfast Club! Beca, I can’t believe I’ve never made you watch this before. I’m so down.” Jesse kissed Beca chastely before putting the DVD into his laptop.

They laid there together and watched the movie, hands interlocked. As the movie came to an end, Beca looked over at Jesse and stared. She thought about all the nights they spent together watching movies and eating popcorn, all the dates he took her on to the movies, and all the nights they spent separate from each other when she would lay in bed and miss his presence. 

“I love you, Jesse.”

-x-

Summer break finally rolls around and Beca goes to Seattle to stay with her mom for two months. It would be the first time she sees her mom in years. “Beca, don’t go! Stay with me! We can watch movies all break!” Jesse pouted and tugged on Beca’s luggage, begging her not to leave him.

“Jesse, I can’t. I haven’t seen my mom in forever and I kinda miss her and shit. I’ll call you. Love you.” She placed a quick kiss on his cheek before jumping into the taxi, waiting to take her to the airport.

Over the break, much to her dismay, she found that Jesse had been very busy. He rarely returned her texts and would only ever call her in the afternoons. Although she wasn’t a very clingy girlfriend, she couldn’t help but miss her boyfriend. So, cutting her trip with her mom short and deciding to spend the last week of break with Jesse, she caught a late-night flight back to Atlanta.

Rather than telling her dad she was home a week early, she decided to rush over to Jesse’s house and spend the night with him. As she ran up to the house, she was about to knock on the door when she realized it was two in the morning. Knowing Jesse would be up watching movies, she climbed up the tree by his window and was excited that she was performing such a cliche movie tactic that she just knew Jesse would love.

She barely registered that Jesse wasn’t alone, too excited by the fact that she would finally get to see him. Beca finally noticed the other girl in his bed, naked, when her fist tapped the glass. The girl winced at the sound, bringing Jesse to look at the window.

His body was flush on top of the other girl’s, his eyes dark with lust, but now wide with fear. Beca shook her head and started to try and climb her way down the tree as Jesse jumped off the girl, grabbing his boxers in the process.

“Beca, wait!” He whipped open his window and screamed at Beca, startling the girl so much that she fell down the rest of the way, landing flat on her left arm.

“FUCK!” Beca screamed, pain shooting straight up her arm and down the rest of her body. She barely registered Jesse’s quiet “shit,” as she quickly got to her feet and scrambled away.

Knowing her dad would be pissed she came home on her own, Beca ran wherever her legs would take her. She was blocks away when her adrenaline dropped and she finally registered the pain in her arm. She sat down on the sidewalk and pulled up her phone, thankful for the 12% remaining. Calling the only person she could think of, she prayed that they would be awake.

-x-

“Beca, I’m here. Let’s go.” She felt long arms wrap around her body, gently picking her up and placing her in the passenger seat of the car. She heard her suitcase being dumped in the trunk and reminded herself to be ever-so-thankful that she was smart enough to grab it and run as she dashed away from Jesse. “Hey, let me see your arm.”

She followed the sound of the soft voice, and let her left arm be picked up. As the other girl examined her wounds, she flinched and began to cry, for the first time that night, at the pain.

“It doesn’t look broken, maybe just sprained. I’ll take you home and I’ll let my mom look at it before we do anything though, okay?” Beca simply nodded, not trusting her voice to work.

When she got to the house, her arm was examined. “I’m going to put a brace on it to help it heal, but your arm is simply just sprained. You can sleep here for tonight. Goodnight, Beca.”

“Goodnight, Mrs. Posen.” Beca muttered and laid her head on the table. Aubrey came up behind her and placed a gentle hand on her back.

“I don’t know why you called me, of all people.” Aubrey shook her head as she guided Beca upstairs and taking out a large t-shirt for Beca to wear to bed. 

Beca shrugged, “you were the only person I could trust to not tell anyone.”

“I won’t tell anyone. But I doubt you can hide a sprained wrist from the whole school.” 

“I know. I just didn’t want anyone else to see me crying.” Beca changed and got into the bed, laying down next to Aubrey. “Thank you.”

-x-

It was the first day back to school and Beca was dreading it. Aubrey agreed not to sit with her at lunch, as per usual, and pretend that she didn’t know what happened to her. Rather than sitting with Jesse, however, Beca opted to sit alone. Her headphones were over her ears and she was picking at the sandwich that sat on her plate.

Her music was blasting and she didn’t hear Jesse calling her name. So, he resorted to pulled the headphones off her ears. “Dude what the fu--Jesse. No, NO! Get away from me!” Beca started screaming and grabbed her backpack, running away from the scene.

She felt tears covering her eyes and tried to hold them in until she got to the bathroom. But, just as her luck would have it, she barreled straight into someone. “Ow, hey! Watch where--are you okay?” The soft voice barely registered in Beca’s ears as she muttered a quick, “sorry,” and ran off to the bathroom.

Her breathing was heavy and she could barely feel any air in her lungs. Her eyes filled with tears and she swore she could drown in the amount of water that was spilling out of her. She was bent over the toilet, though there was nothing in her stomach to throw up.

“Beca, are you in here? Oh, sweetie.” Warm hands found their way to hold Beca’s hair and rub circles on her back. She didn’t even know who it was that was helping her, but she couldn’t find the energy to push them away.

Instead, she shut her eyes tight and flipped around to be in their embrace. They sat there, together, on the floor for what felt like hours. Neither spoke, nor tried to move. Once Beca calmed down, however, she lifted her head and found herself face to face with Chloe Beale.

“Fuck, sorry. We don’t even talk and here you are comforting me. You don’t have to stay.” Beca tried to get up, but Chloe pulled her back into a tight hug, continuing to remain silent. She then reached into her purse and pulled out a makeup wipe, offering it to Beca.

They worked silently together, Beca wiping her face clean as Chloe pulled Beca’s hair into a bun for her. “If you ever want to talk, you can call me. I don’t even have to say anything, I’ll just listen. You’re a quiet person and I get that, but sometimes we all need a stranger who can’t judge you to just listen.” And with that, Chloe gave Beca a piece of paper with her number on it. She then walked out, saying nothing else, leaving Beca there to ponder in her thoughts, alone.

-x-

The next day, Beca still hasn’t called Chloe. But, during lunch, Chloe came and sat next to her. Neither of them talked to each other, and nobody came to talk to them. They ate silently, side by side, and parted ways when the bell rang.

This becomes a solid routine for the two girls. Neither pushing the other to say or do something that the other wouldn’t want, but providing the security the other may need in the busy lunchroom. Beca knows that Chloe has friends and sometimes feels bad that she never sits with them during lunch, but reminds herself that, if Chloe didn’t want to be there, she didn’t have to be.

So, as payment for sticking around with her, Beca brought an extra Capri-Sun to lunch one day. When Chloe sat down, Beca slid the extra pouch over to her and gave a small smile. Chloe smiled back and took it without response. This also became a routine. Beca bringing Chloe an extra Capri-Sun, then Chloe giving Beca a sticky note with a drawing of a sun or a cat or anything that would represent some sort of happiness to the redhead.

They still haven’t spoken to each other since that day in the bathroom, but Beca feels closer to Chloe than to any other person in her life. She slowly starts bringing herself out of the depression caused by the heartbreak, courtesy of Jesse, and Chloe is there to witness Beca looking less broody each day at lunch.

So, when homecoming is a week away, Chloe finally makes the first move. “Do you want to go to homecoming with me? It doesn’t have to be a date, but you also don’t have to go with all of my friends, if you don’t want to. I just figured, junior year and all, might as well have a little bit more fun before the stress of senior year hits?” 

Beca looked over, infatuated with Chloe’s soft-spoken voice, and smiled. She was about to reject Chloe when she saw another homecoming proposal happening on the other side of the cafeteria. There was Jesse, guitar strapped around his body, singing some stupid love song to the girl Beca saw under him two months ago.

Everybody erupted into cheers when the girl said “yes,” and Beca felt a pang of jealousy hit her hard. She trusted Jesse with her heart, and he knew he hurt her. So, rather than moping and letting Jesse win, she turned back to Chloe and accepted her proposal for homecoming.

“We can even just get dressed up and have dinner, if you want. We don’t have to go to the dance, if you aren’t comfortable. Or if we do go, we can leave anytime you want. I just want you to have fun.” Chloe sipped her Capri-Sun and looked at Beca hopefully.

“Fuck it, dude. Let’s just have some fun.” Beca smiled and thought about the two years she wasted on Jesse. Never once has their relationship been about her. It was all about Jesse and his movies and his dedication to making Beca love them as much as he did.

Never once did he listen to one of Beca’s mixes, and never once did he ask if there was something else Beca wanted to do besides watch movies. Even though she knew this was a platonic date for homecoming, she couldn’t help but feel more cared for by Chloe in these past two months than she has ever felt by Jesse in all their two years.

-x-

Beca and Chloe are together at Chloe’s house, getting ready for homecoming. Chloe has on a baby blue dress that comes just to the middle of her thighs, hugging all her curves perfectly. Her hair is delicately curled and framing her face elegantly. Her makeup is done up just a tad more than usual, accentuating her piercing blue eyes.

Beca was wearing a dark blue dress that came to her mid-thigh, a little looser than Chloe’s dress. Her hair was also curled, but pinned back on one side to reveal her dazzled earrings. The dress she wore had an open back, revealing the beautiful orchid tattoo on her shoulder blade. 

“Chloe, I have something to tell you.” Beca took a deep breath and looked at Chloe. “I really only agreed to go to homecoming with you because of Jesse. He’s my ex-boyfriend and things ended real messy. I saw him ask the girl he cheated on me with to the dance and I felt jealous. I understand if you don’t want me to go with you anymore, but I just felt guilty because it seems like I’m using you to get back at him. But I promise I’m not. You’re just the only real friend I have anymore and I don’t want to ruin that. I’m sorry, Chloe.”

Chloe squinted her eyes and stared at Beca, who was now very terrified that her only friend hated her. “I know. Let’s go.”

Beca widened her eyes and asked for an explanation. “I saw how you stared when he started singing to that girl. Then I stalked your Instagram and found a bunch of tagged pictures of you guys watching movies together, then I just did the math. Really, it’s okay. Let’s just have fun tonight, okay?”

Beca nodded her head and took Chloe’s hand, following her to the car. 

When they got to the dance, Beca got along well with Chloe’s friends. She gave an extra smile to Aubrey, who offered a smile back, and the group went to the dance floor together. It was fun for a while, but then a slow song came on and everybody went to their dates. Chloe, however, insisted Beca stay for this dance because Jesse was watching them.

“Everything Little Thing She Does Is Magic” by The Police was playing, and Chloe pulled their bodies close. She kept her hands respectably on Beca’s body, but not too friendly less they want to raise Jesse’s suspicions. He continued to stare at them throughout the song, and Beca finally decided to end his staring.

She pulled her head off Chloe’s shoulder and looked her in the eyes. With a silent warning, Beca leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Chloe’s lips. They stayed like that for the last few seconds of the song, then the music turned upbeat again.

However, when they pull apart, they both realize that Jesse had left the dancefloor halfway through the song. Beca notices that Chloe is looking around, and thinking that she made a mistake, Beca turns to run to the bathroom.

Chloe realizes what Beca must have been thinking and chases after her. “Beca, wait!” Chloe reaches the bathroom and finds Beca has locked herself into a stall. Falling to her last resort, Chloe crawls under the stall door and pops up on the other side, realizing that she crawled into the wrong stall. 

“Chloe, what the hell?” Aubrey shrieked, covering herself as Chloe quickly apologized and turned around.

“Sorry, Bree! Wrong stall!” Chloe left the stall and crawled under another one, praying that it was the right stall.

“Beca, it’s not what you thought. I was just looking to see if Jesse saw and when I realized that he wasn’t even anywhere near us, I was going to kiss you again.” Chloe pulled Beca’s hands from her lap and helped the girl stand up.

“I just didn’t want to screw this up, too.” Beca sniffles and rubs her nose, but Chloe grabs her hands again and kisses her.

“We won’t screw this up. We’ll do it together.”

-x-

Chloe and Beca show up to school on Monday, hand in hand, and Beca without her headphones in. They both appear to be glowing, completely happy in each other’s presence. The whole school appears to be making a big deal about the new couple, chattering amongst themselves whilst staring at the girls.

Jesse sees them together and looks at Beca sadly. He approaches them and asks if he can speak to Beca alone. Just as Chloe is about to let Jesse have his moment, however, Beca cuts in and speaks for them both, “anything you have to say to me, you can say to my girlfriend.”

Jesse thinks Beca is doing this as payback for him cheating on her and openly accuses her of it. Chloe then audibly gasps when she hears Jesse’s confession. She knew they ended badly, but she didn’t know that Jesse cheated. She doesn’t understand how anyone could possibly do that to someone like Beca, or to anyone at all.

“I loved you, Jesse. But you hurt me. Dating Chloe isn’t me ‘getting back at you’, dating Chloe is me getting myself back. You broke me, and she’s putting me together again. You can’t hurt me anymore.” Beca gripped Chloe’s hand tighter and walked away. The small crowd that had gathered quickly dispersed, leaving Jesse to be embarrassed.

-x-

They stay together for the rest of junior and senior year. As the end of senior year approaches, Beca has already been signed to produce music for a company in New York, where Chloe will be attending college. 

Chloe and Aubrey are studying for their final exam, while Beca stayed at home to work on some mixes. She decided to take a break, however, and pay Chloe a quick visit. She drives over and walks straight into the house and up to Chloe’s room. Before she can enter, however, she hears her name come up in conversation.

“I don’t know, Bree. I think I’m starting to fall in love with Beca. She’s just so incredible and I absolutely adore every second I spend with her. But I don’t want to tell her and scare her away. You know what happened with Jesse; as closed off as she is, she actually loved him. I just don’t want her getting hurt again, you know?”

Upon hearing Chloe’s confession, Beca felt her heart race.  _ Chloe Beale loves Beca Mitchell. _ At first, she was excited. Completely happy that someone is capable of loving her, in a way that Jesse never did.

That excitement quickly turned to dread when she realized that love only seemed to hurt her. So she quietly backed away from the door then out of the house, returning to her own home to work on a song for Chloe.

She stayed up all night and cancelled plans with Chloe the next day to continue working on the song. She said she had a surprise for her and would give it to her on the night of the talent show.

Chloe, anticipating Beca to perform a live mix of any song thrown at her, was ecstatic and gave the girl proper time to practice. Little did she know, however, that Beca was actually planning on singing an original song to her.

-x-

The night of the talent show, Beca is one of the last acts to perform. She gets up on stage and hears Chloe yelling her name, followed by a: “THAT’S MY GIRL!” and she chuckled. Taking the microphone in her hand and gesturing to the sound booth behind the audience, the first notes of the song began.

_ Summer comes, winter fades _

_ Here we are just the same _

_ Don't need pressure, don't need change _

_ Let's not give the game away _

_ There used to be an empty space _

_ A photograph without a face _

_ But with your presence, and your grace _

_ Everything falls into place _

_ Just please don't say you love me _

_ 'Cause I might not say it back _

_ Doesn't mean my heart stops skipping when you look at me like that _

_ There's no need to worry when you see just where we're at _

_ Just please don't say you love me _

_ 'Cause I might not say it back _

_ Heavy words are hard to take _

_ Under pressure precious things can break _

_ And how we feel is hard to fake _

_ So let's not give the game away _

_ Just please don't say you love me _

_ 'Cause I might not say it back _

_ Doesn't mean my heart stops skipping when you look at me like that _

_ There's no need to worry when you see just where we're at _

_ Just please don't say you love me _

_ 'Cause I might not say it back _

_ And fools rush in _

_ And I've been the fool before _

_ This time I'm gonna slow it down _

_ 'Cause I think this could be more _

_ The thing I'm looking for _

_ Just please don't say you love me _

_ 'Cause I might not say it back _

_ Doesn't mean my heart stops skipping when you look at me like that _

_ There's no need to worry when you see just where we're at _

_ Just please don't say you love me _

_ 'Cause I might not say it back _

_ Please don't say you love me _

_ 'Cause I might not say it back _

_ Doesn't mean my heart stops skipping when you look at me like that _

_ There's no need to worry when you see just where we're at _

_ Just please don't say you love me _

_ 'Cause I might not say it back _

_ Just please don't say you love me _

_ 'Cause I might not say it back _

Initially, Chloe is extremely offended by the song. She thought this was Beca’s way of telling her that she didn’t love her back. But as she scanned the crowd, she saw Jesse watching intently and realizes that this song isn’t about Beca not loving her, it’s about her not being ready to love again. Beca isn’t ready to be hurt again.

So, rather than telling Beca she loves her, Chloe will hold back and wait for her girlfriend to make the first move. Beca will tell her when she’s ready to, but until then, Chloe will always know that Beca, does indeed, love her. 

-x-

Chloe and Beca have been together for five years now. Chloe has graduated college and Beca is a successful music producer. On Valentine’s Day, Beca sets out to find a promise ring to offer Chloe. She knows they are both still young and Chloe is about to enter graduate school while Beca is about to take a month-long trip to LA. 

So, as Beca gets on one knee in the middle of a restaurant, she offers Chloe a promise ring. “Chloe Beale. I know our lives are hectic and they’re about to get even messier, but this is my promise to you. I promise to stay loyal to you. I promise to take care of you whenever you need me, just like you have always done for me. I promise to be your person when you need someone to talk to. I promise to give myself to you, and to only you. I promise to love you, forever and always. Because I do--” And for the first time in their relationship, Beca says it.

“I love you, Chloe Beale.”

  
  



End file.
